The goal of the Multi Partner Marie Curie ITN-RAPID (Reactive Atmospheric Plasma processIng – eDucation network) is the realization of an interdisciplinary training involving the disciplines physics, chemistry and engineering. As a result, RAPID will create the platform for a truly European PhD in plasma technology. RAPID offers Fellowships for 12 Early Stage Researchers (ESR/PhDs; for 36 months) and 3 Experienced Researchers (ER/PostDocs; for 20-24 months).

The scientific goal is the development of non-equilibrium reactive processes in atmospheric pressure plasmas. Thereby, the great success of low pressure plasmas enabling a multitude of applications ranging from material synthesis, automotive and microelectronics can be repeated. In addition, even more applications become possible due to the easy integration of atmospheric pressure plasmas in current industrial processes. Hot topics such as large area solar cells, barrier coatings to improve the permeation properties of polymers and plasma chemical gas conversion are selected. A broad curriculum will be adopted for the training of RAPID fellows in theory, experimental methods, materials as well as transferable skills.

The research success requires a specific training covering diverse aspects such as modeling and simulation of plasmas and surfaces, diagnostic to validate these models and the implications for industrial scale-up. This will be trained in a coordinated effort involving 10 academic and 10 industrial partners from 8 European countries. The RAPID network is designed to promote the career of the fellows actively and each fellow will be supervised by two principal mentors – an academic supervisor (from the academic institution) and an industry mentor (from an industry partner).

Full Partners:

CNRS PROMES, France Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Germany FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V., The Netherlands Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany University College Cork, Ireland University of Antwerp, Belgium University of Manchester, United Kingdom University of Ulster, United Kingdom VITO, Belgium